Kiwis lose one, win one as league tour starts

Press, 5 June 1978, Page 20

Kiwis lose one, win one as league tour starts

NZPA Wagga The New Zealand rugby league Kiwis had the win they wanted at Wagga yesterday’ when they beat Riverina, 25-18, in a fiery display of rugby league.

It was a game the New Zealanders could have easily lost. Riverina. rejuvenated since i‘- crushing loss to Auckland in the Amco Cup competition, desperately wanted to win. That meant bruising and sometimes illegal tackles and the Kiwis refused to back down. There were outbursts of fighting but no-one was ordered off. The New Zealand prop, Lindsav Proctor, was always in the middle of the trouble a d was twice warned early in the first half. The most pleasing aspect of the game, apart from a much improved performance compared with the previous day's display at Newcastle, was the form of the three new Kiwis in the team — Shane Varley, Gary Prohm and Barry Edkins. All three had a tremendously high ..ork-rate, with Varley once making three successive tackles when the New Zealand line was threatened. Prohm. Edkins and Baxendale gave New Zealand an impressive back three in the scrum and they took everything Riverina threw at them. Edkins played so well that he was chosen the play-

er of the match by a former • Kiwi, Graham Kennedy, now a Riverina selector. Edkins ? . the field five minutes > from time after being shaken in a heavy shoulder : charge by the local captain,

Pat Smith, when he did not have the ball. Again the Kiwis relied heavily on the centre, Olsen Fdipaina. He score.’ one try and set up two more. He benefited by the Kiwis’ moving the ball wider than they did again?. Newcastle but still there was too much attention paid to turning the ball i’ by the forwards.

For New Zealand: Dane O’Hara, Filipaina, Dennis Williams, John Smith and Varley scored tries; Michael O’Donnell kicked three conversions and Chris Jordan kicked a penalty and a conversion.

For Riverina: Smith (two), Adrian Fury and Wayne Ross scored tries; John Sanson kicked two conversions. The New Zealand coach, Mr Ron Ackland, was pleased with his team’s 2518 win over Riverina and “not too disappointed” at Saturday’s defeat at Newcastle.

Newcastle won the opening game, 19-12, but the Kiwis picked up the bonus points of learning that no game on the tour will be easy regardless of the background of the opposition and that rule interpretations still differ despite the introduction of an international rule book. The Kiwis refused to believe the local assessment of the opposition — that they were in for a cakewalk.

And so it proved, as Newcastle produced a stifling tackling display that -tunted the Kiwis’ attacks.

They also discovered that the Australians have a

different version of the rule covering the play the ball. In New Zealrnd the defence may move up only when the ball has hit the ground in play the ball.

In Australia the Newcastle coach, Dave Brown, told Mr Ackland after the game that the ball is considered to be in play once it is dropped b; the tackled player. The Newcastle team used that difference to the utmost, especially to stifle the danger of the Kiwi centres. So effective was that defence that Filipaina did not see the ball until early in tlv second half and then he had to move into dummy half.

New Zealand, to its credit, refused to crack when Newcastle worked to a 16-4 halftime lead. It outscored Newcastle two tries to one in the second half, both trie., going to the replacement wing, Prohm.

For Newcastle: Jim Batey (two), Neville Elwin tries; G aeme Wynn two conversions, three penalties. For New Zealand: Prohm two tries: Chris Jordan conversion, Nick Wright two penalties.